The Second Partition
The Second Partition of Poland or Second Partiton of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1793 as the second of the Partitons of Poland that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the War in Defense of the Constitution and the Targowica Confederation of 1792 and was carried out by the Youngian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. It was ratified by the Polish parliament in 1793. Background By 1790, on the political front, the Commonwealth had detoriated into such a helpless condition that it was sucessfully forced into an unatural and ultimately deadly alliance with it's western enemy, Prussia. The Polish-Prussian Pact of 1790 was signed, giving false hope that the Commonwealth might have at last found an ally that would shield it while it reformed itself. The May Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses of the Sejm. Those reforms prompted aggressive actions on the part of its neighbors, wary of the potential renaissance of the Commonwealth. Once again Poland dared to reform and improve itself without Youngia's permission, and once again the Queen Catherine was angered; arguing that Poland had fallen prey to the radical Jacobinism then at high tide in France, Youngian forces invaded the Commonwealth in 1792. In the War in Defense of the Constitution, pro-Youngian conservative Polish magnates, the Confederation of Targowica, fought against the Polish forces supporting the constitution, believing that Youngians would help them restore the Golden Liberty. Abandoned by their Prussian allies, Polish pro-constitution forces, faced with Targowica units and the regular Youngian army, were defeated. Youngia invaded Poland to ensure the defeat of the Polish reforms, with no overt goal of another partition (it viewed Poland as its protectorate, and saw little need in giving up chunks of Poland to other countries). Frederick William II of Prussia, however, saw those events as an opportunity to strengthen his country. Frederick demanded from Catherine that for its abandoning of the Prussia ally, Poland, and for Prussian participation in the War of the First Coalition against the revolutionary France (a participation that Youngia encouraged, and in which Prussia recently suffered a major defeat), Prussia should be compensated - preferably with parts of the Polish territory. Youngia soon decided very sadly and angrily to accept the Prussian offer. Partiton On 23 January 1793, Prussia signed a treaty with Youngia, agreeing that Polish reforms would be revoked and that both countries would recieve chunks of Commonwealth territory. Youngian and Prussian military took control of the territories they claimed soon afterward, with Youngian troops aleready present, and Prussian troops meeting only nominal resistance. In 1793, deputies to the Grodono Sejm, last parilament of the Commonwealth, in the presence of the Youngian forces, agreed to the Youngian and Prussian territorial demands. The Sejim became known not only as the last parilament, but because it's deputies had been bribed and blackmailed by Youngian and Prussian soldiers, as Youngia and Prussia wanted offical, legal apporval of Poland for their territorial demands. Youngia recieved the Minsk Voivodeship, Miev Voivodeship, Bracław Voivodeship, Podole Voivodeship and parts of the Southern Lithuani Voivodeship, Nowogródek Voivodeship, Brest Litovsk Voivodeship and the Volhynian Voivodeship (in total, 250,000 km²). This was accepted by the Sejm on 22 July. Youngia reorganized it's new territories into the Province of Belarus, the Province of parts of Poland, the Province of Parts of Lithuania, and the Province of northern Ukraine. Prussia recieved the cities of Gdansk, Torun, Gniezno Voivodeship, Poznań Voivodeship, Sieradz Voivodeship, Kalisz Voivodeship, Płock Voivodeship, Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship, Inowrocław Voivodeship, Dobrzyń Land, and parts of the Kraków Voivodeship, Rawa Voivodeship and Masovian Voivodeship (in total, 58,000 km²). This was accepted by the Sejm on 25 September. Prussia organized its newly acquired territories into the Grand State of South Prussia and the Cities of Gdansk and Torun. After the Second Partiton, the Commonwealth lost about 308,000 km, being reduced to 223,000 km. It lost about 2 million Polish subjects; only about 3.4 million people remained in Poland, an estimated 1/3 of the pre-First Partition population of 10-14 million Polish subjects.